Miskovic confident, but not cocky

The two traits may not seem to fit together but in Miskovic's case, they do.

Undrafted, Miskovic signed with the Washington organization coming out of St. Lawrence University. Last season, his first professional season, he was assigned to the Hershey Bears out of training camp and stuck. He played in 59 games, picking up six goals and 26 points.

This season, Miskovic has pretty much picked up where he left off last season, the biggest difference being that he's now seeing more ice time. Given the confidence he has in himself, Miskovic isn't surprised.

"I don't want to be surprised," he said, "because there are situations I definitely want to be in. I worked to get into those situations, to play a regular shift and be effective on the power play, contributing there as well as the PK when I'm able to do so. The roles are what I want to continue on, and hopefully this year, moving along, I can become more perfected in and get even more ice time."

But confident or not, Miskovic is taking nothing for granted. That's the humility part of it. As confident as he may be in his own abilities, he knows there's plenty of room for improvement.

"I'm by no means satisfied with how I'm playing right now," he said. "I know I can play better, I know I'm capable of more. I'm a pretty harsh critic of myself. I don't need too many other people telling me how I'm playing.

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I know after every game when I look at myself in the mirror, I know whether I did the job or not. That's how I am. I'm very self critical, and I know when I've made a mistake."

And, he added, given the depth - the quality depth - the Bears have at the blue line with veterans like Brian Fahey and Lawrence Nycholat, Sheldon Souray and Sean Collins, there's plenty of reason not to assume that his spot in the lineup is secure.

"We have a lot of good talent on our team, so no one's comfortable," Miskovic said. "You've got to go out and perform every night. You've got to do your job, and if you're not doing your job, there's a guy waiting to take your job. By no means am I in a comfort zone. I know I need to improve every single day, to keep getting better. I definitely want to improve, and definitely want to contribute more offensively when I can and play solid defense."

Miskovic is also a willing student. He's tried to make the most out of his opportunities, and to learn from the veteran defensemen on the team.

"We have some very skilled veteran guys but I think that's helpful," he said. "You learn a lot from them every single day, practice and games. I was paired with Nicky (Nycholat) for quite a bit, I was paired up with Souray. Both guys have a lot of veteran leadership. They've played a lot of years, and every game, I can learn something from either one of them whether I play with them or not. I can watch them or play beside them. You pick up little tips here and there and learn how to get things done the most efficient way. That's a big key at this level."

When he signed with Washington, Miskovic figured he'd be heading to Hershey. That was something he was looking forward to. He also knew he wanted to stay in Hershey rather than being assigned to the ECHL.

"I knew I wanted to be in Hershey after college," he said. "I knew this was a good fit for me. I was fortunate to get a taste with Washington after my freshman year, so I knew this was the right fit for me. I was fortunate it happened."

Hershey coach Mark French wasn't surprised.

"I don't think I was surprised," said French when looking back on Miskovic's rookie season, coming into camp as an undrafted free agent. "He's a player that played well enough to get an AHL contract from Washington, so I don't think it was a surprise that he made the team last year."

To Miskovic, it's just a matter of continuing to do everything he can to make sure the coach, and the rest of the team, remains confident in him.

"Coach makes it very clear to us that he wants us to work and give 100 percent effort," he said, "and as long as we're working hard - everybody's going to make mistakes out there, no one plays a perfect game - so you've just got to play your hardest, play your smartest, make sure you've got your game face on, and come ready to work."

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